  
|
|
About-Him.Com Devotional 07-30-2005
Http://About-Him.Com/ My Thoughts on the Life of Christ, from His Baptism to His Ascension. 187: His Authority Questioned Mt 21:23-27; Mk 11:27-33; Luke 20:1-8 Luke 20:1 ¶ And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, 2 And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3 And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: 4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? 6 But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. 8 And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. It had only been a couple of days since Jesus had made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem See Par. 183. When He did so, He made an open claim to Messiahship. When He drove the money changers from the temple, He had effectively taken control of the temple See Par. 185. The people were flocking to hear Him teach. This presented a problem to the ruling religious leaders. They had already determined to kill Him (Luke 19:47). Perhaps they could provoke Him into making an open claim to Messiahship once again? This would give them grounds to confront Him and bring Him to trial. A formal delegation composed of the Chief Priest, the Scribes and the Elders came to Jesus and demanded answers. They presented Him with what they thought was a fool proof question; "Tell us, by what authority do you do these things? In other words, "Did we give you authority for anything that you have been doing? Who authorized you to preach without a license? What business do you have healing people? Why did you interfere with our business concessions in the court of the temple? Why did you claim the title, Son of David?" Their questions were endless, because of their unbelieving hearts. Perhaps He would play into their hands by claiming oneness with God once again? Jesus was not about to fall into their trap. He put them on the defensive by answering a question with a question and demanding an answer. “I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? They knew that Jesus had them trapped. If they said from heaven, he would ask why they had not obeyed him. If they said of men, they feared that the people would rise up and stone them. We remember that John had stirred the whole nation to repentance and the people regarded him as a prophet. John had pronounced Jesus as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. John said that he would decrease, but that Jesus would increase. It was Jesus whose shoes John felt unworthy to unlatch. It was Jesus who would baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire (Mark 1:1-8). These wise and learned men were left stupefied. All they could answer was, "We can not tell." Conclusion and Application: Times have changed but the questions remain the same. Who is Jesus? To many, He is just a man. To some He was a great teacher. To others an imposter and a faker. To us, He is Almighty God manifest in flesh (I Timothy 3:16). Many see Him as just a good man. We see Him as the sinless Son of God in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Colossians 1:19,2:9; Revelation 1:8). Many challenge His word, but they forget that He validated it all by rising from the grave on the third day, just as He had predicted. If the eyewitness accounts of those who saw the empty tomb and who saw Him after His resurrection were presented in a court of law, the evidence would be irrefutable that He is Whom He claimed to be. Many challenge His authority to make a claim that that He and He alone is the only way to salvation (John 14:6). Many challenge the validity the claim that His blood washes away all sin (I John 1:7). My eternal destiny depends on how I treat these questions: Who is He? What claims does He have on my life? Am I willing to accept His authority and obey His word to obtain eternal salvation (Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:47-49; John 7:38; Romans 10:9; Acts 2:37-39)? An old chorus comes to mind: He is my everything, He is my all He is my everything, both great and small He gave His life for me, made everything new He is my everything, how about you. In About-Him
Online Sermons http://about-him.com/sermonlink.htmlOur Bible Studies http://about-him.com/bslinkpage.html Our Music: http://about-him.com/audio.html Flash Theater http://about-him.com/player.html Scripture list on 30 subjects http://about-him.com/wordarc.html Humor
A butcher just out of trade school in Canada gets a new job, butchering the kills of the
local hunters. His first task is to cut up a moose and put it in the freezer. When he
finished he marked all the bags, chops, steaks, ribs and roasts, etc.
However, he still had a pile of unidentifiable parts. Solution: He put them all in one bag and labeled it as ..................Moosellaneous. Somebody Has Said
"He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were
designed to feed on. There is no other." - C.S. Lewis
Keep Looking Up! Don and Marie Spooner About Him! Ministries Your thoughts and Inquiries Contact@about-him.com Subscribe to this devotional? Subscribe@about-him.com
The purpose of About-Him.Com is to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ whom we preach as the Almighty God manifest in the flesh.
It is our desire that everything presented on these pages increases your
faith in our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
|